A New Path
by 0player
Summary: An extension of Karma's (rather tragic) canon backstory and her subsequent meeting and interaction with Varus.


The candles burn bright in a hideout hut, on the edge of the small village. Calm fills the air, as usual, but none less is the concern shared among those present.

"What is this that gathers us today, Aeria?" - the silence is broken by a man with a tired look in his eyes, and a long silver beard running down to the ground.

"The Kinkou order, Bearded one," a woman in an intricate dress nods to a silent boy enveloped in black cloth, standing behind her back, "they sent us an initiate".

A second silent nod to the boy urges the boy to speak. Although impressed by the force of will exemplified by some of those present, his back is straight and his voice is firm when he speaks up.

"Invaders rise yet again, approaching from south," he points to the wall, "they want our blood for Noxus".

Aeria flinched at the sound of the vile name, and this was strange to see a woman of this strength to be so thrown off. But she did not interrupt the boy.

"While their low soldiers spread to pillage and kill," he continued, "the elitary forces decided to have some fun on their own. Officers and generals of butchers' army set foot towards your dwelling. They will be here by the time of tomorrow noon, if not earlier".

A wave of whisper rippled the attention with which elders listened. A middle aged man sitting near the door raised his hand to say: "We should run".

Aeria turned her head, and there was nothing in her eyes but grim acceptance.

"Run, Heiras? Where?" she replied. "If we stroll to the north without stopping, the next thing we know will be their high in command trampling the herbs of Lotus Garden. We cannot flee." She paused. "Unless you mean running AT them with sticks and stones, of course."

What was supposed to be a joke gathered no reaction from the elders other than one pained sigh from the bearded man.

"We stand there," she stood up to demonstrate her point, flames of candles dancing in her teared eyes, "we are powerful enough to not let them come near the village. Their minds are simple, riddled by fear and lowly pleasure. They will divert from their course, they are no match for us!"

Some stood up to follow her, but the bearded man let out yet another pained sigh.

"Whether it is being the leader is getting to your head, Aeria," he said calmly, "or Noxian vileness which, I swear, would make an angel from Astral Grove to smite then down, but our path is the path of peace. We cannot inflict curses upon their minds. Weathering their anger would be more of a testament to our cause."

And those standing nodded their heads, and lowered to the ground. The last one to sit, after giving one more look to Aeria, was a young woman, almost a girl, with short black hair, in a dress she had sewn several days ago. The tattooed rings adorned her wrists which she had a habit of keeping together, as though being shackled. She would, of course, remain to be the last one to support Aeria, but she feared backlash and accusations from those less enlightened.

Afte rthe gathering dissipated, she found Aeria leaning onto a tree, with closed eyes.

"I'm sorry, big sister," she said after coming closer, in a humble voice. "They would've thrown me out of the door if I showed a sign of something they'd view as agression."

Aeria opened her eyes and took a girl's hand into hers, crossing one of the tattoos with a finger movement as though wanting to wipe it out. "I know, Karma," she said, "don't you worry about that. The fool still cannot stomach the fact that young ones keep getting elected as leaders before his jealous eyes."

"You do not sound very enlightened," Karma snickered.

Aeria smiled. "A pot calling a kettle black, aren't we, little miss-burned-every-wall? Now let's move to ours, it's getting chilly. If we want to appear strong before Noxians, we better not have bags under our eyes."

"Are you scared?" her sister asked.

The leader covered her eyes with an open palm. "Let's not talk about it. Not that it is something that can be changed."

Calling Karma "miss-burned-every-wall" was an exaggeration, but not a major one. It was the same story as with her tattoos, "shackles of owl". In her childhood, Karma tested to an unmatched strength of her spirit fire - a thing considered commonplace for her heritage and would-not be an alert if not for the fact that she had severe problems keeping it inside. The first incident was her spitting out a bolt of green fire at the age of four, when a mother's acquaintance tried to give her a piece of candy. The fire had not only completely ruined the man's robe, but left her with a severe skin burn. After some time, her skin started to show swirling green patterns, assembling together to serpent-like shapes. The story brought some village elders to an outrage, them being recently scared by a tale of a magician killing her teacher with violent magic. "Some women," one of them uttered, "lust for power so much, they must be contained!" Perhaps it's a lucky occurence that Karma wasn't there, or she might've coped with one more skin burn in response to such a phrase.

Under the pressure of some elders and the fear that she might burn down the house while sneezing, her parents took her on a long and hard way to the one of Owl's shrines, whose men were revered for their ability to contain evil and corruption. The templar refused to identify the child's condition but said it would be easy to contain. Their art left a whimpering child with her wrists aching from sigil circles painted by needles.

The tattoos could contain child's power but not her infamy. Ever since then, she was called an evildoer every now and then merely for expressing her concern or displeasure. It was a tiring life of being an outcast in an otherwise relatively peaceful and accepting village.

The Noxians came much earlier than anyone expected. Villagers were awoken by banging on their walls and laughs. They grabbed children by their clothing, leaned on the doors and laughed loudly. They were adorned by scarlet cloth, and the crest of Noxus showed on belts, chests and shields of them. They were not scared in the least, being confident in their power.

"Hey peacenicks!" shouted the one with the huge sword. "Come out wherever you are, to the square, we'll have a heartfelt talk the way you like it!"

The air became filled with baby cries and rustling sounds, as family after family humbly went out their doors and shuffled towards the main square.

"Hey officer Revia!" shouted the man. "Go check the houses to see whether some of these enlighteneds is hiding, before we do the educational course. Don't want to repeat anything twice for those absent!"

People stood silently until the officer, dragging a huge warhammer, finished lazily checking every door and returned to the square as well.

"So, who can I talk with?"

Aeria, keeping to the center of a crowd before, stepped forward, but the old elder caught her sleeve.

"You'll upset them, that's all!" he whispered. "Let me go."

"Well, that's some hair I see!" laughed the man with the sword upon seeing the elder. "Do all of you never shave? Try at least combing it - or don't eat soup so much. So what do you have to tell us?"

The bearded one stepped forward to look up to the Noxian.

"We are the ones who follow the ways of peace and there we seek our enlightenment. We believe that only through acceptance the soul can be rid of earthly and achieve true power."

Noxian man grinned.

"I like the way you speak, old man, and I respect your path. Allow me to help you, please."

A swift movement of the sword - definitely too swift for something so large - cleaved the elder's abdomen sidewards, moments before he collapsed to the ground with a short cry. His resolve kept him from dying moans, only tears running down his face as he died silently. When his eyes closed, a muffled "No!" was heard somewhere in the crowd.

Aeria collapsed to the ground and cried quietly. "Uncle Miren", she whispered.

"So," the Noxian observed the crowd, "who's the next one to say goodbye to the worldly through acceptance?"

Several stepped forward.

Off to the side, a man was blocking Karma from coming closer to the center of the square.

"Do you understand what happened!" she gestured, speaking angrily under her breath. "This is your peace, killing innocents? It is causing more deaths than some strife I've read about!"

"Don't test me, child!" the man responded, "you're on borrowed time here! Did you forget all the meditation already? If you're so corrupted that you cannot accept your fate, just sit back and read mantras until they come for you."

"Oh I've had it with your mantras! Do you want me to burn your cloth again? Step out of the way!"

"Your threats are empty, you abomi-" He didn't finish speaking as a barrier formed around Karma knocking him off his legs.

"Peace?! I'll show you peace!" she shouted loudly, making her way through the crowd.

The Noxian executioner, who was already lifting his sword, turned to her.

"What is this, child?" he laughed. "We're having a ceremony, do not disturb. Your time will come."

"Oh but yours has come already!" Karma lifted her arm, swirls gathering on it into a serpent. "I'll help you discover the meaning of tranquility! Sae Eleisa Tera Vi Phyla!"

With this, her eyes burned bright, as she lifted the second arm and then threw both toward the executioner. Serpents jumped off her arms, burning the tattoos away, and struck the chest of the man with the sword as a double helix, enveloping his body and slithering down to the ground. He tried to rush towards her, but serpents caught his feet, slowing him down as the mage conjured the string of fire to wrap around him. A tug, and his movements were ensnared.

Boredom had showed on the face of the executioner.

"Child, don't you think I warded myself against magic when coming to your mystical bonkers land? Is that all you have? Bring her to me already. Your death will not be a favor, that will be justice."

"Oh?" Karma smiled, lowering her arms. "I don't think so."

Serpents burst from under the ground, rushing back onto her arms.

The Noxian fell, knocked off his legs. The final strike left him dead.

"Who's up for some more?" Karma beckoned with her hand. "You killed one more than it was planned already. You're outnumbered. Run, because you will die not leaving a scratch on us!"

A short string of fire flew off her fingers and vanished in the air, to demonstrate her point.

Noxian officers stood confused. Finally one of them spoke.

"You killed our general! How dare you! You will pay!"

She grabbed a child off the crowd, moving his axe to their throat.

"Surrender, or they will die. Now. No tricks."

Karma lowered her head, approaching the officer with an axe.

"Alright, leave the innocent alone."

"Fat chance," she laughed back. "But you'll be the first to die."

Karma smiled. "You didn't run. Let me help. I weave the threads of magic - Lath Rian Oune Vi Saera!"

The serpents encircled the child, forming the barrier around him. Then, they lashed out in a spiral, knocking the officer away and covering more and more villagers under and expanding magical wall. One of the officers - one who checked the doors - was pushed aside from his allies. Fearing for his life, he ran, thus heralding others to.

People stood there, still in shock form what just happened. Karma couldn't lose time. Seeing Noxian coomand backing off, she rained the ground beneath their feet with blasts of magic. Finally facing her became inconvenient for the speed with which they desired to move away, and they turned their backs and ran. Magical snares caught their feet repeatedly as they shook them off, running faster and faster apart in all directions. Karma had only ceased the incantations when none of them was already in sight.

She turned to her neighbours.

"We couldn't save uncle Miren," she said calmly, "and they couldn't save their general. Yet I saved us all, and they saved themselves. For me, it's as peaceful as it gets in the war."

Cheers and cries followed her words.


End file.
